Continuum
by Infernezor
Summary: Time-travel: A chance to go back and make everything right, correct all the mistakes that were made, and to play as a god holding all the cards. For some, it's a dream come true. The problem with dreams is that they disappear when the dreamer wakes, every last one of them, with no exception. There were no gods, certainly none that held to any ethical code or judgement.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I had a thought. I know, a novel experience for me. But I thought I might give this one a try. As you'll realize, the past Naruto is coming from is AU, however he enters a cannon-ish timeline.**

_It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If it was Them, then nothing was anyone's fault. If it was us, what did that make Me? After all, I'm one of Us. I must be. I've certainly never thought of myself as one of Them. No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We're always one of Us. It's Them that do the bad things."  
>― Terry Pratchett, <em>_Jingo_

**Summary: Time-travel: A chance to go back and make everything right, correct all the mistakes that happened, to play as a god holding all the cards. For some, it's a dream come true. The problem with dreams is that they disappear when the dreamer wakes, every last one of them, with no exception. **

**Prologue**

Naruto stood with a straight-backed intensity atop the shattered remains of the Hokage's monument, arms folded behind his back, gazing out at the smoldering remains of his village beneath him. It galled him to know that it was because of his failure and choices that the village, and now by extension the world, burned.

One of the three six foot black-silk tassels that floated behind him, attached to his burnt orange and black trimmed vest, twitched slightly in an errant breeze. The vest was slit down the center exposing his bare, battle-scared chest to the elements, not that the autumn chill bothered him. The boiling pit of chakra within him guaranteed that he wouldn't get sick, that and the demon slumbering inside the seal.

He reached into his trousers' pocket and withdrew a threadbare necklace with a single green jewel dangling from the string. It had belonged to his predecessor, Lady Tsunade, the fifth Hokage. He had taken it from her corpse after Madara had slain her and the other Hokage's years previously. It was on that day the War of the Undead officially began.

Reaching into his own mind, Naruto gave a small tug on one of his soldiers. A moment later, a tall, dark form detached itself from the inky-blackness of one of the nearby tree lines and stepped into the glow of the fire below. He was dressed as all of Naruto's Undead Generals were – black, hooded robes with matching trousers tied at the waist. Fast, easy to move in, and most important, easy and cheap to reproduce. A necessity now that there were more undead than living.

"Report." Naruto ordered.

He could have taken direct control of the general and ripped the information from the man's head, but that would leave his body unprepared for an attack.

The general removed his hood to reveal a nest of gray hair and a pair of bored, eyes; the white sclera burned a penetrating black marking him as being under the effects of Edo Tensei. In this day and age, there was no rest, not even for the dead. Kakashi was one of best generals, and at time had been one of his worst enemies.

"Madara has retaken Suna and returned Gaara under his command. Squad six has fallen to Pain and three of his bodies."

Naruto's grip on the necklace tightened to white knuckled fury as he ground his teeth at the news. Gaara shouldn't have fallen. Where had Madara pulled the forces required to take the desert city? The red head's command of the sand all but guaranteed dominance in the area.

_He found an Uzumaki mask suitable enough to resurrect one of the Hokage's._ Naruto reasoned.

The Uzumaki masks were an accursed heritage of Naruto's own family. A masterful work of sealing capable of bringing back someone from the Grim Reaper's own clutches. Naruto had thought them all either used or accounted for. Apparently he'd been wrong.

"Gather the others at Uzu." Naruto ordered, turning away from the skeleton remains of his homeland to face the general. "I'll be there shortly with what masks we have left. It's time we move this battle to another front."

Kakashi hesitated briefly. He was less restrained than many of the others under Naruto's control and so was able to express himself to a much greater degree.

"Are you sure that's wise?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto moved forward, brushing past the Undead soldier and down the path towards the village.

"The death toll is too great. There aren't many still fighting for our side for this battle to be considered winnable. I have only three of the Tailed beasts under my control, and of them only Kurama's power is of any consequence now. Madara's new minion's Ginkaku and his brother give him new tools as well as access to a portion of the ninth's powers. It won't be long before he will be able to have enough chakra at his disposal to awaken the Juubi once more. If that happens, he won't bother waiting like he did last time. He'll move instantly to end game strategy. We have no choice."

Kakashi nodded slowly, his shoulders slacking at Naruto's words.

"It's just…"

"I know." Naruto replied. "I've considered the risks and I think we can win given a second chance."

"We don't even know if-" Kakashi started, but found that he was talking to empty air. "We don't even know if the Crowkeeper will allow you through." He finished pointlessly.

**Line Break**

Naruto stood in the center of a Sealing array so vast it took up the entirety of what had once been the ruins of Uzushiogakure. At each focal power point that overlapped a lay line, Kakashi, Kiba, Hinata, Ino, and Neji stood, each of his undead generals wore one of the Uzumaki masks. Shikamaru and Hidan, the only two living subordinates who still fought for him, stood in the control matrix, directing the influx of both spiritual and natural chakra. Though calling Hidan 'living' was a bit of a stretch. Naruto was still unsure of what to classify the Jashinist as.

At a mental command, his generals each began pouring their energies into the seal, causing the matrix to glow an eerie green in the evening light. A light hum that resonated in Naruto's chest filled the clearing. Though he couldn't see the Seal's sacrifices faces, Naruto knew that the scraps of flesh that held together each undead construct would be peeling away as the Seal slowly drained what gave them life away.

"No going back now." Naruto told himself. The soldiers he commanded were now committed to Seal, their souls firmly in the grip of the Crowkeeper, otherwise known as the Shinigami. Even Naruto could not escape. If he were to take one step from where he stood, the energies coursing through the seal would rip him apart like so much paper.

** "This is not a wise decision." **Kurama rumbled from within his mind.

"I never said it was." Naruto responded to the demon. The power surging through the seal had doubtlessly awoken him. "But those in power rarely act on what's wise."

The Kyuubi didn't say anything further- there was little more to say, so he simply watched as the seal's light grew in strength, illuminating the clearing beyond the seal where another figure sat just outside the perimeter, elbow on knee, and cupped hand on cheek.

"Madara." Naruto hissed. He'd recognize that mane of black hair and crimson eyes that cut through the space between them anywhere.

"A desperate gambit, Uzumaki." Madara said, his voice a whisper through the humming the seal was generating.

"I couldn't beat you in this timeline, but I'll beat you in the next." Naruto swore as the light grew even stronger.

"And so you surrender this world to me, losing by default." Madara commented blandly, a small smile tugging at the edge of his lips. "How Boring. But we shall see if you-."

The light grew blinding and the once moderate hum became a roar that blotted out the rest of Madara's sentence, leaving Naruto with only the memory of the man's easy, taunting smile.

Naruto remained standing where he was, counting the minutes to pass the time, not daring to even twitch since he couldn't be sure that the Seal was finished with its work. If it wasn't and he moved, then everything would have been for nothing. And so he stood, and stood, waiting for something – anything- to change.

**Line Break**

One day, six hours, and eighteen minutes. Two days, seven hours, and twenty-two minutes. Four days, sixteen hours. Seven days, nineteen hours, and forty-four minutes.

Chakra was the only reason he remained standing. As it was, he'd cut the chakra strips of silk that he kept ready to attack after the first day of waiting. On the fourth day, he'd started to feed off his own power to keep himself standing. Now, approaching the eighth day, he'd been reduced to a shell of his former self. Vibrant golden-hair that had stood in proud spikes now drooped with a lackluster that rivaled fronds by a polluted pond. His blue eyes now stared laboriously out of sunken sockets more out of habit now than anything else.

He wouldn't be able to last much longer. Chakra could only replace water and food for so long before vital systems began shutting down. Already he could feel his liver and kidney giving up the ghost.

"Just a bit longer." He rasped to himself, dry tongue scraping over barren gums.

On the ninth day Naruto gave up keeping count and simply waited for oblivion to claim him.

It was then when Naruto was just about to let his legs give out from beneath him and deal with whatever came that he saw a black dot in the distance. He watched it as it slowly grew larger, gaining definition, until it finally resolved itself into the shape of a man in his late twenties or early thirties with short-cropped black hair and dressed in a black on black suit, silver cufflinks standing out starkly against the dark fabric.

The man drew up to the enfeeble Naruto, stopping a couple of feet away. The stranger had a narrow, pale face with dark eyes recessed over a thin nose.

"I remembered you to be taller." The man said in an idle drawl that stretched on in the empty space long after his mouth had stopped moving.

"And I expected you to be here sooner, Crowkeeper." Naruto responded dryly.

Death didn't deign to respond to the jibe. He stood with arms at his sides, black eyes inscrutable and unreadable.

"Do you know what this place is?" He asked after a few moments of silence both parties used to inspect each other.

"Hell." Naruto said succinctly.

"Don't be so gauche." Death chided lazily, turning slightly to face away from where Naruto stood. "This is a precipice, a hole between worlds." Crowkeeper looked at Naruto from the corner of his eye. "Your precipice."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, resisting for the millionth time to scratch his nose.

"This is where you make a choice, a decision whether or not to leap. We have both been here before. You bring the bodies here, the souls of those you've subjugated for the greater good." Death turned to face him again. "The others are resentful of me because of what I have permitted you to do, you and the other one. In the end, though, the decision rests with me. You and Madara's little squabble amuse me, so I have permitted you to bypass the riverman, allowing you to cast your nets wide without fear of the current. But now that's all come to an end. Your usefulness is spent and they long for the news of your death."

Naruto wondered who 'they' were. Other gods? Souls, maybe? There were certainly quite a few thousand who wanted him dead.

"The price was paid to go back in time." Naruto said, right arm twitching.

Death laughed, a hollow sound that ground and shook the very air.

"No." He said flatly, stopping his laughter abruptly. "You misunderstood. What others paid for you was simply an admission fee to see me, if I willed it."

Naruto's eyes would have widened if he had the strength for it. As it was, all he could manage was a sinking, pit-like sensation in his stomach.

"But-" Naruto began.

"Did you know that time-travel is impossible?" Death asked conversationally, stepping backwards away from Naruto, clasping his hands behind his back. "If you spend the time to think about it it'll make sense. Choice is inherent in everything – and by going back, reversing the flow of time, you take away the importance of those decisions already made. But here, this place is the end of all things, and the beginning – here renders all of time meaningless. Neither seconds nor centuries have hold."

"Then what's the point?" Naruto asked, a bit of peek entering his tone. He was in the presence of a being who could almost be called a god, but at the moment Naruto couldn't care less. His soul was already damned anyways. He had nothing left to lose. "Why did you bother coming here? Why not just let me fall?"

Crowkeeper didn't reply.

"There is still amusement to be gained. I can't send you back in time. That goes beyond even my power. I can, however, send you to another dimension."

"The people there won't be the friends I knew." Naruto said. "What's the point in saving them?"

Death cocked his head slightly, for the entire world looking like a bird inspecting a unique insect it'd found.

"For one so noble, you can be so selfish. Madara would have asked the same question, were he in your shoes. Is the act of saving souls not enough for you? Listen – I can hear their every thought." Death leaned forward, a smile so very reminiscent of Madara's playing across his withered lips. "Can you hear them too?"

Crowkeeper straightened up, the air in the bright void stilling.

"Enough talk. The time for your decision has arrived? Will you save them? Or will you toss their corpses into the black river?"

Naruto remained as he had been for the last week, motionless. After an eternity and no time at all, he asked, "What do I have to do?"

"You know what to do. You always have."

Wearily, Naruto took a step forward. And into darkness.

**End of Prologue**

**A/N: Let me what what'ca think. Me love you long time.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: A reviewer suggested that I send Naruto to the age of the Sannin, the Hokages, or even Madara's age. While a decent suggestion, I feel that I would be straying far too much into completely made up territory and people really didn't seem to like that with 'In Search of a Namikaze.' Therefore, I am very leery of taking that route. Anyway, drop a review at the end of this chapter and let me know if you guys like this direction, or you think taking a different route would be more entertaining. I'm flexible.**

**Chapter One**

**Continuity is for Losers**

Naruto felt like he'd been inside a giant bell when someone had rung it. And then they'd hit him with the aforementioned bell just to be thorough. Whoever rang that bell was a bastard and deserved to be taken apart limb by limb. Slowly. With a spoon.

He'd do it, too. He'd done it before. Dismantling an Edo Tensei summon was one of the more sure-fire ways of subduing one. They regenerated quickly, but in that when they were missing an arm or leg they were vulnerable. But then, now that he'd thought about it, so were most people. There was something in that.

_Not that I need to worry about that jutsu anymore._ Naruto mused sluggishly though the pain. Kurama was sure taking his time mending that. _If Crowkeeper is to be believed, Edo Tensei won't work anymore. At least, that's why I think he meant by ending his freedom in casting a net. If the jutsu was the net, that is. Thought is difficult. Maybe just the cost of summoning had gone up? Death wasn't very specific on that point._

There was an easy way to test.

But, no. No, he'd come back to prevent another Undead War, not start it all over again. He'd only resort to firing that kunai if Madara fired first. Any way, it was time to take stock.

He opened his eyes and wincing as the sun instantly made its presence known with the brutal opening assault only it was capable of, Naruto found himself laying prone under a canopy of trees, a light mist hanging in the air around him giving the air a damp scent. Where was he?

Sitting up and looking around, he discovered that he was in the middle of a small clearing. Flowers dotted the grass in an erratic pattern indicating that he wasn't in some open garden but the wild. There were also signs of a battle judging by the slash marks on the tree nearest him. What was odd about the markings was that there were over two dozen of them, each one just a bit higher than the last.

Naruto started, he knew exactly where he was now. He was in Wave, this must have been when he met-

"You shouldn't sleep outside, you could catch a cold." A feminine voice said from behind him.

Naruto spun around while reflexively calling on chakra to bring to life the tassels he kept on his back. Only, he was in the past now and so they weren't there yet.

Haku took a half-step back, a flicker of surprise showing on the effeminate man's face before quickly being masked by concern. He moved forward, the white cloth robes rasping across bare skin plainly audible to Naruto's ears. The ninja was making no attempts to hide the sound.

"Don't worry, you're safe." Haku said in a comforting voice, kneeling down beside Naruto. He began plucking some of the herbs from the ground and placing them in the brown basket he carried under one arm.

Naruto watched the man work for a time, silently observing every motion and marveling how he missed the hidden grace the first time he'd been through the scenario.

"What are you doing sleeping out here?" Haku finally asked, breaking the silence. "You could catch cold. I'm sure your parents must be worried about you."

"I was training." Naruto said distantly with a frown, wracking his brain for what had happened here last time. He needed information on this world. What had changed? Had anything?

"Training?" Haku asked with feigned surprise as he plucked another plant from the ground and deposited in his basket. "What for?"

"To kill a monster." Naruto responded stonily.

This time Haku didn't have to feign surprise, faltering as he reached for one of his medical herbs. He no doubt believed that Naruto had been referring to Zabuza, as he couldn't possibly know that he was referring to a greater demon than the one hidden in the mists. Naruto had fought with and against Zabuza on multiple occasions. The man could be cruel, but more often he just did what he believed was right.

"I don't think it is right to ever kill." Haku eventually said, recovering himself enough to resume his work collecting herbs.

Naruto turned to face the ice wielder, intrigued. He had never gotten to really talk with the man before. Zabuza had frowned on him summoning his apprentice and had always gone to take care of Haku personally if Madara brought him back.

"What would you do if you knew that man was going to kill hundreds of thousands? Would you kill him then?"

Haku snorted lightly, apparently dismissing the question out of hand.

"You can't know what someone is going to do. People will always surprise you. Deep down, everyone just wants to get along and understand each other. What a cynical child you are."

Naruto blinked, looking down at his hand. That was right. He was only thirteen now. To Haku, it must look like he was being petulant and not proposing a hypothetical situation. A hypothetical situation doom to come true unless Naruto did something about it.

"What happened to make you so distrusting of others?"

"I'm not distrustful. I'm cautious." Naruto responded glibly. "I've seen a lot in my lifetime. The very best and worst of people. I know what they're capable of."

Haku pulled the last plant from the ground. Placing it in his now full basket, he looked up and met Naruto's eyes for the first time.

"I have seen my fair share of what human's do to get by, but I try not to see the worst in people and choose to see the best in them." Haku said honestly.

"I don't think this person had any good in them left." Naruto said seriously, frowning. The idea that Madara was capable of anything other than beating a warpath was preposterous to him.

Haku frowned slightly, tiny lines appearing at the corner of his mouth, and said.

"Sometimes, when things may or may not be truth, are the things people need to believe in the most. That people are basically good and honorable. It doesn't matter if it is true or not. Honor, courage, and the willingness to protect those precious to you - a person should believe in those things, because those are the things worth believing in."

The ice ninja stood. Shifting his basket to a more comfortable position on his arm, he turned and left the clearing.

Naruto remained sitting there in silence, quietly turning over the man's words in his mind.

"He was the first person you killed."

Naruto's head spun around so fast his vertebrae groaned in protest. Crowkeeper stood a few meters to his right, arms clasped behind him, black eyes fixed on where Haku had left. His dark clothing seeming to absorb the morning light, appearing like a patch of midnight that had never been wiped away.

"Haku was the first victim to your temper and the Kyuubi's power. His work was never done, cut short by an unfortunate hand." Death turned to look at Naruto, deep eyes holding Naruto's blue gaze. "If he lives to the end of the month, what changes would occur, I wonder? Ultimately, it is your decision. I await upon it with baited breath."

Death seemed to fold in on himself, slipping into a space just out of sight and leaving a dissipating cloud of black smoke that quickly vanished.

Naruto stood, brushing dirt and crushed flowers from the lower half of his orange jumper. He remembered the outfit fondly. It was what had inspired his later attire, weapons and all.

Directing a bit of chakra to his nose, Naruto scented the air, hoping to catch a trail that would lead him back to the bride builder's house – what's his name's place. No luck. It was a long shot anyway. He would have to do this the hard way.

Following his nose to a river, he summoned two clones, each heading in different directions up and down the river. He remembered the old drunk having his property near a river. Logically, if he followed this river, he would eventually find the house.

Naruto dropped into a relaxed heap on the ground, folding his arms behind his head, and waited.

**Line Break**

It wasn't until late that evening that he located and arrived at the property. Inside he could sense Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura. Naruto hesitated just outside the estate's boundaries, the reality that Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke were now alive once more hitting him with the force of a compression jutsu. He could feel Kakashi's sensory field like a tangible barrier. One step across and he'd be noticed.

Sakura wasn't dead, and Sasuke wasn't half crazed. He had to keep telling himself that over and over again in his head. How was he supposed to act around them? Between the three of them, they'd cycled being his weapons, extensions of himself for so many years that now the prospect of them having individual personalities was almost frightening. They would be weaker now, naturally. But given time and the proper directions, each of his former tools could become even more powerful than they were originally.

Tools? That way of thinking didn't seem right anymore. He'd already acknowledged that they were separate from him now. Sakura wasn't something he could just resurrect if he had the resources and the need. He didn't need to watch his every word around the Uchiha least it send him into a frenzy. It didn't work that way anymore.

He'd have to roll in and see what happened.

Naruto entered the property, strode up to the door, and pushed it open, the screen door almost coming apart in his hand. Gato's corruptive influence baring its twisted teeth once more, something Naruto made a mental note of correcting personally this time around.

The living room was an empty, hollow affair. A worn sofa sat in the middle of the room, a threadbare rug shoved in the corner gasping to die. A recliner that had been home to more than one family of rats during its lifetime stood with a tired gate beside the sofa, accustomed to its silent companion.

Kakashi sat perched on a knobby-kneed end table that was shoved up against the wall beside the staircase that lead up to the second floor. The Jounin glanced up from his orange book at Naruto standing in the entryway, took note of the change in Naruto's posture, his eyes, and his stance before returning to his book. The jounin was lazy, but he wasn't stupid and he was far from incompetent. He no doubt knew that something had changed in the time Naruto had been gone. He would have no clue what it was, of course. But he would have over a dozen theories to be tested and judged wanting. For now though, he would wait and see what happened. The one eyed jounin dressed in a green flack jacket, black muscle t-shirt, and matching loose-fitting trousers, would wait until he had more information other than a suspicion.

And Naruto would be waiting with answers.

As much as he would have liked to walk up and tell the jounin everything, he wouldn't be able to blame the jounin for disbelieve the tale. What was Naruto supposed to say? 'Hi, this may seem a bit far fetched, but would you believe I'm from another dimension come to save yours? No, don't mind that I know techniques that are far more likely to have come from other nations, have potentially completely inaccurate information because, as I said, I'm not from this sector of the cosmos.'

Were Naruto in Kakashi position and some thirteen year old had come up to him with an outlandish story like that, he would have had them put under a Yamanaka mind technique within the hour to wrest the truth. Which wasn't an option for him. For one, Kurama didn't like sharing space, even if it was temporary. Add on to that, there was things Naruto did not want airing to the public. It would ensure that they would never trust him. After all, it was difficult to trust the man responsible for the destruction of your homeland.

He would have to deal with each individuals suspicion individually.

"You're late." Kakashi noted, his single visible eye roving the page languidly.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Naruto replied, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. It wasn't his fault he got the wrong river to begin with.

Kakashi's eye flickered up to him briefly once more. Naruto felt a small, almost undetectable pulse of chakra aimed at him to disrupt an illusion. Damn, it never ceased to surprise him how perceptive Kakashi could be when he wanted to be. The jounin raised an eyebrow slightly when his dispel had no effect.

"Did you complete the exercise?" asked Kakashi.

"Yeah. It took me a lot longer than I thought it would, but in the end it was no match for a future Hokage!" The words slipped easily from his tongue. He would be Hokage once more, and this time he'd do it right.

"Go clean your clothes, then. You clearly didn't bathe while you were gone. If Tazuna's daughter finds you, she'll drench you with a hose and leave you outside to dry."

Naruto quickly complied with Kakashi's order, moving forward and past the watchful eye of the jounin to ascend the stairs. He passed the rooms where he could sense Sakura and Sasuke sleeping, their chakra systems low from a hard day's training.

"Dinner for you is still on the table. Be sure to eat before you go to bed." Kakashi called from the bottom of the stairs."

"I will." Naruto replied, softly enough so that Kakashi would hear but wouldn't wake the others in the house.

It took him a few moments to retrieve his pack from the bedroom and to locate the bathroom, a small almost closet-like room with a cramped shower and sink shoved into the corner next to the toilet. Stripping out of his jumpsuit, Naruto cast it aside and stepped up to the mirror hanging over the sink, able to inspect himself for the first time since his sojourn to this dimension. The rivers he'd crossed had to many rapids to provide a clear picture and his water affinity had never been good enough to create a still enough surface for reflection. Zabuza had taken more than his fair share of passing comments about that shortcoming.

He looked much as he remembered himself at the age of thirteen. Blues eyes, unruly blond hair, high cheekbones that emphasized the three whisker-like birthmarks that marked him as Kurama's container. There was a bit more baby fat than he would have liked, but that would change in time.

His face now lacked the scars he'd gained from years of battle: the nick beneath his right eye, the vertical line across his neck when Kakashi had been turned without him noticing and nearly succeeded in giving him a smile for his throat, and the jagged line by his left temple inflicted by a reanimated Sasuke and scorched him with a Chidori. He also lacked his corrupted left eye, when he'd drawn far too much of Kurama's unfiltered chakra for to long.

What his features lack, his eyes remembered. It was there, if you looked hard enough. Behind the face of youthful exuberance, you could see a jaded soul used to constantly suspecting those around him, if they'd be turned and used against him when he wasn't paying attention – when he'd become to attached to them once again to not violate their minds to discern loyalty.

Naruto grunted and shook his head violently. Brooding like a lovesick Uchiha wouldn't get him anywhere. He'd come here for a purpose. Kill Madara. Simple enough in theory, far more difficult in execution.

Showering quickly, Naruto dried himself off and removed another jumpsuit from his pack. He stared at it for a few moments. It was awesome. That much was undeniable. However, its use was highly limited and Naruto didn't have very many weapons at the moment.

During his 'quest to find the stupid drunk's house' he'd taken a quick inventory. Much of his chakra control had carried over from his dimension, though his chakra reserves were nowhere near what he was used to. Sure, they were greater than everyone's in this village's capability, but it wasn't up to his picky standards. He also lacked Jiraiya's notebook of Seals to copy from. Naruto himself was hopeless when it came to the art. The Uzumaki gene had skipped him over on that one. He needed to widen his arsenal before he encountered Zabuza and Haku on the bridge again. He couldn't be sure of this dimension's Sasuke and Sakura's abilities. In his, they'd both been militaristic machines. What he could sense from them in the hallway beyond, they were barely halfway competent comparatively.

Naruto ran a hand through still wet hair.

_What to do? What to do?_ He asked himself.

His eyes fell on the crumpled remains of his discarded training jumpsuit, a near replica of the one he now wore. Naruto frowned, the beginnings of an idea coming to him.

_Hey, recycling is good for the planet._ He reasoned to himself.

Bending down, he picked up the musty jumper and tossed it into the sink. With a flick of the handle, warm water began spewing onto the garment. After letting it soak for a moment, Naruto set about washing certain sections of it, using the hand soap by the sink as makeshift detergent. Once finished, he held it out and with a bit of concentration ran a wind/fire tandem jutsu over the garment, drying it in a matter of seconds. Kakashi had taught Naruto that one, telling him that he learned it during his time in ANBU. While on the field for unknown periods of time, sometimes you didn't have the luxury of a change of clothes and so you had to make due with what you had.

Dry jumper in hand, he began cutting strips of it off, running a wind-tipped finger along the fabric. Magic was in the small applications. Once he'd cut himself three separate sections of jumper each about two feet long, he held them flat in his palm. Chakra-laced silk they were not. The best he'd get was a twenty to one return as opposed to the five to one chakra woven material would give him, but as always he'd make due with what he had on hand.

"You'll due for me, won't you, baby?" He said in a crooning voice to the crudely improvised weapon. It wasn't nearly as long as he former weapons, but then he was quite a bit shorter now then he was. Not to mention that he couldn't use these as freely, nor as thick as he preferred.

Kneeling down, He tied one around each of his claves, adjusting them so that the tip of the length wouldn't get under foot or tangled in his legs when he couldn't afford to charge chakra to article of clothing.

Satisfied, Naruto nodded to himself and stood, stuffing the last length into his pocket as a backup. Picking up what remained of the jumper, he deposited it in the small waste bin by the door on his way out of the room.

On stealthy feet, Naruto slipped down the hallway and into his room with Sakura and Sasuke. Finding what he assumed to be his roll in the corner, Naruto lay down and diligently set about falling asleep.

Forgetting completely that dinner was on the table.

**Line break**

The taste of tears, the sting of pain, and the smell of fear hung thick in the air, clinging to the steadily falling ash as a drowning man would cling to a raft. After so long, Madara remained sitting on the rock where he had been sitting when the last obstacle to his success had fled. However, success had become rather bittersweet now. The Uzumaki had given up and left him with a dead world. Peace was assured for the few who remained.

And it left Madara with a bitter taste in his mouth.

Madara's gaze drifted languidly to the ground where the imprints of the seal were still burned into the ground. He couldn't recreate the work, there weren't enough masks left. And besides, for some reason every Edo Tensei he possessed had stop moving and crumbled. Without them, he didn't have the necessary regrediants to preform the work anyways.

"Does this mean that the Uzumaki brat won?" Madara asked of the empty night's air. "It seems absurd to think so."

With a casual wave, a black orb the size of a man's heart sprang into existence, hovered for the barest of a second, and then rocketed forward towards the center of the array where the Uzumaki child had stood. It hit the ground with detonation-like force and wiped the entirely of the Seal from the map. What little remained of Uzushiogakure was no more.

"A pestilence ridden people." Madara commented idly, dropping his arm back to his lap.

"Uzushiogakure was one of the oldest clans, though not even they knew it." A voice commented from Madara's right.

Calmly, Madara tilted his head up and to the side to see a thin, man in his late twenties dressed in a suit darker than the night standing three meters away, pale hands clasped behind his back. The intruder wasn't looking at Madara. Instead, he was gazing placidly at the crater that had once been a work of art. His pale face seemed to catch the moon giving him a gaunt cast.

"Who are you?" Madara asked, his attention also returning to the late ruins.

"Your kind call me by many names," the man said casually, "Shinigami, Grim Reaper, Outsider, and Death to name a few. Though Uzumaki Naruto prefers to call me Crowkeeper even though he thinks of me as the later."

Madara crushed his surprise with practiced ease. He hadn't summoned this thing, so how was it here?

"I play no favorites." Death said, turning to face Madara. "Your price will be different from what the others have paid, but pay it you shall. You have killed men, women, and children for an ideology so remarkably similar to what great heroes have touted, and left more corpses than all the rest put together. Save one."

Madara raised a brow a fraction of an inch. Death could only be speaking of one man other than he; the only problem was that he had turned into a coward.

"This age has come to an end, bathed in ash and fire." Death continued. "For old times sake I will offer you the same opportunity I offered the other. Though your circumstances will differ." Death's dark eyes scrutinized Madara, though the world butcher had the distinct feeling he was being looked through. "I wonder how you will view this as an opportunity. Will you curse it? There are so many paths, you have only to throw your shackles away."

Death vanished as abruptly as he had arrived, only a black cloud of drifting smoke to signal his departure.

Madara considered Death's words. Another chance? Another opportunity to truly beat Uzumaki Naruto, for good. The thought appealed to Madara. If Death was offering him a chance to travel through time and correct the mistakes he'd made this time, there would be far fewer casualties with another shot. He could plan for perfection this time. He could bring peace to the world in truth this time.

With the same ease that he'd destroyed Uzu, Madara brought up the souls and powers of the bijuu stored within him. He hadn't managed to collect them all. indeed, he was only missing the Kyuubi. Naruto thought he had three of the lesser-tailed beasts but they were copies - difficult to make, but highly convincing copies.

Extending a hand, palm to the sky, a white churning ball of chakra appeared, reflected in the orb the faces of each of the eight bijuu he held. With a flick of the wrist, he dropped the ball to the ground.

His world became a blur of colors, each one clambering over the other and desperate for attention. Madara continued to sit, closing his eyes lazily to block out the din of flashing color. It would end when it did, and then he could begin the planning all over again.

This time, he'd do it right.

**End of Chapter One**

**A/N: Who saw that coming?**

**Hello, my name is I, and I could use some help. I'm afraid In Search of a Namikaze isn't quite what this site likes. Admittedly, I made quite a few mistakes I refuse to go into in a A/N. To prevent that happening to this story, any criticism of where you think I can improve would be greatly appreciated. However, as a warning, I tend to respond to reviews that peek my interest and try to get a discussion going on the topic. If you don't want me doing that, please ask for me not to reply on the review.**

**I don't have a beta reader, so please excuse a few of my typos. I'm sure they're in here, like rats.**


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